東方之星

When Ding Junhui—“The Oriental Star” took to snooker， he never expected himself to be a world champion， a national icon and phenomenon.

Born on April 1， 1987 in Yixing， Jiangsu， snooker superstar Ding Junhui has accomplished an impressive string of victories since 2000. With impressive victories in the China Open， the UK Championship and the Northern Ireland Open， the Chinese snooker prodigy has become only the second player in history， the first one being Ronnie OSullivan， to pull off such feats before the age of 20.

While many snooker fans may easily list the prizes Ding has won， few of them know that he first entered the field as a wild card. According to his father， Ding Wenjun， who also was a snooker player， he first detected his sons remarkable talent when Ding was just 8. In order to ensure that the boy always had a table on which to practice， Ding Wenjun gave up his business and opened a snooker club. Later， in order to further improve Ding Junhuis skill， the senior Ding decided to bring the boy to Dongguan in Guangdong Province， where the national snooker team trains.

But their stay in Dongguan was to be full of hardships. Both father and son lived in cramped conditions， sharing a five-square-meter room adjoining the local snooker club. Ding usually spent eight to ten hours every day in the poolroom playing snooker alone. He said snooker occupied all his life.

“I sometimes got bored. I also wanted to stop and go out to frolic with other children， but I couldnt. My parents had given up a lot of things for me， so I had no other options but play snooker. ”

Their tremendous efforts finally paid off in April 2005， when Ding claimed the title of China Open champion as a wild-card entrant. He caused a sensation in December 2005 when he beat Nuggets Steve Davis to win the UK Open. Ding became the first ever player from outside the British Isles to win the UK Championship. While the world cheered his success， Dings competitors also gave a thumbs-up for this remarkable young man.

Even now， having reached the heights in world snooker， Ding practices as hard as ever—eight hours a day from 10 am to 6 pm， without a day off. Ding Junhui said he felt lucky to have the chance to play against world-class opponents.

“They each have their own style. Only by dealing with each of them will I become fully prepared in any situation，” said the young man.

As a matter of fact， Ding is mature for his age and looks very relaxed on the big stage. According to Ding Wenjun， the most remarkable feature of his son is that he keeps a cool head， an important characteristic for a snooker player.

“When back at home， he likes to play video games. He is still a child now making up for what he had lost in his childhood，” said his mother.

In his spare time， Ding likes to watch Jackie Chan movies and enjoys swimming. “Both of them bring me total relaxation，” he said. 】

如今享有“東方之星”美名的丁俊暉當年迷上斯諾克運動的時候，絕對沒想到自己有朝一日會登上世界冠軍的寶座，成為中國人的偶像，且被譽為“臺球神童”。

丁俊暉1987年4月1日出生于江蘇宜興。自2000年起，這位征戰賽場的斯諾克巨星捷報頻傳。在斯諾克中國公開賽、斯諾克英國錦標賽、斯諾克北愛爾蘭公開賽上，這位中國的斯諾克奇才接連奪冠，成為繼羅尼·奧沙利文之后，歷史上第二位在20歲前取得加此不凡佳績的球手。

說到丁俊暉獲得的獎項，許多斯諾克球迷都能如數家珍地列出來，但很少人知道一開始他只是作為一名外卡選手參加斯諾克比賽的。丁俊暉的父親丁文鈞曾經也是一名斯諾克球手。丁俊暉8歲時，他察覺到兒子在斯諾克運動方面的驚人天賦。為了保證兒子有球臺練習球技，丁文鈞放棄了原來的生意，開了一家臺球俱樂部。后來，為了進一步提高兒子的球技，丁文鈞決定把他帶到廣東東莞，因為那里是中國斯諾克國家隊的集訓地。

然而，他們在東莞的日子卻歷盡艱辛。父子倆的居住環境非常狹窄，他倆擠在一個只有五平方米的小房間里，這里緊挨著當地一家臺球俱樂部。丁俊暉通常每天花8到10小時在球室獨自練球。他說他的生活完全被臺球占據了。

“我有時候會厭倦這樣的生活，也想停下來，去外面跟其他小孩玩玩鬧鬧，不過我不能這樣做。父母為我放棄了很多東西，我沒有別的選擇，只能專心打臺球。”

2005年4月，丁俊暉作為外卡選手參加世界斯諾克中國公開賽，贏得了冠軍，一家人的辛勤付出終于有了回報。2005年12月，他打敗綽號“天然金塊”的史蒂夫·戴維斯，贏得斯諾克英國公開賽冠軍，引起一番轟動，成為首位來自不列顛群島之外贏取斯諾克英國錦標賽的球手。 大家都在為丁俊暉的勝利歡呼，連他的對手也對這個了不起的年輕人豎起了大拇指。

即使已經貴為世界頂尖選手，丁俊暉還是苦練如常——每天8小時，從早上10點到晚上6點，日復一日，從不間斷。丁俊暉說能和世界級的選手交手，他感到很幸運。

“他們有各自的風格。只有跟他們逐一切磋過，我才能有備而戰，應付各種情況。”丁俊暉說道。

說實在的，丁俊暉要比同齡人成熟些。在大賽上，他顯得很從容。父親丁文鈞說，兒子最突出的一點就是能保持頭腦冷靜，這是斯諾克選手應該具備的重要素質之一。

“在家里，他愛打電子游戲。他還是個小孩，現在想把小時候錯失的東西都補回來。”丁俊暉的母親說道。

閑暇的時候，丁俊暉愛看成龍演的電影，也喜歡游泳。 “兩者都能讓我徹底放松。”他說。